A definitive agreement between Caterpillar and Navistar calls for development of heavy-duty, on-off highway vehicles under a banner, Cat Vocational Truck Line, and sold through Caterpillar’s North American dealer network
Sources: Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill.; Navistar International Corp., Warrenville, Ill.; CP staff
A definitive agreement between Caterpillar and Navistar calls for development of heavy-duty, on-off highway vehicles under a banner, Cat Vocational Truck Line, and sold through Caterpillar’s North American dealer network. With an eye toward a late-2010 initial model roll out, the manufacturers will co-develop the trucks, which Navistar will assemble–alongside its construction-geared PayStar (5000 series) and WorkStar (7600 series) vehicles–in Garland, Texas.
“The heavy-duty vocational trucks will be purpose-built to complement Caterpillar’s existing product line and give dealers [the] ability to support customer needs from [materials] extraction through delivery,” said Caterpillar Global On-Highway Department Director George Taylor.
Announced April 6, the definitive agreement formalizes a memorandum of understanding Caterpillar and Navistar reached in mid-2008. At the time, Caterpillar announced its intention to abandon outside sales of on-highway trucks. Concurrent with the agreement supporting the Caterpillar Vocational Truck Line, the manufacturers announced a 50/50 joint venture to pursue global commercial truck opportunities outside North America.
Following regulatory review and execution of the joint-venture operating agreement, a leadership team and board of directors comprised of both Caterpillar and Navistar representatives will be named.